Counting down the days in God's waiting room: An 82-year-old writer spends his final years in a retirement home surrounded by the sick and the sorry – and finds it hard to hold back the tears.

I've seen enough family friends and older relatives go through aged care that I'll be dealing with that particular phase of my life in a far more efficient/immediate way. Just need to hope I don't half-arse a stroke or something in my 50s and miss that window of able and willing, because I wouldn't put that decision on someone else.